So where were you when the IRA started disposing of its arsenals? Senator Edward Kennedy was in Washington. He described the news as "a new day of liberation" for all the people of Northern Ireland.
It may have sounded a trifle exaggerated but on reflection it was an apposite phrase because for too long politics here have been imprisoned by dreary recrimination and perpetual crises - much of it revolving around the arms issue. It created a wearying atmosphere of political and public despondency.
This move could and should unlock that prison door after three decades of misery and suffering. And that effectively is how the IRA described their act of decommissioning. "This unprecedented move is to save the peace process and to persuade others of our genuine intentions," it said.
Up on the Shankill Road around the time of the IRA announcement people were commemorating the eighth anniversary of the IRA bombing that killed 10 people, including the bomber Thomas Begley.
This positive IRA act was too late for the relatives of the dead, but generally they hoped this was the end of a conflict that through 30 years claimed the lives of over 3,600 people and mentally and physically damaged the lives of many thousands more.
Republican activist turned writer Danny Morrison was in a BBC studio remembering back 20 years to when he coined the phrase of the ballot box and the Armalite. "It's now time for the ballot box," he said.
A former IRA member was briefed in advance about the IRA statement but when he heard the formal announcement on the radio "it left me half in a daze and half in a state of reflection". But the republican movement was conditioned for the move and could live with it, he said.
"A historical watershed," was how he portrayed the IRA statement. "What it means is that for the first time the political wing of republicanism is taking precedence over the military wing." Now that is historic.
Gen John de Chastelain finally had a chance to earn his keep. He verified that the IRA had engaged in a meaningful act of decommissioning as the legislation demands but more importantly, as the Ulster Unionist leader Mr David Trimble required, to allow him to restore devolution.
Mr Trimble is expected to reinstate his three ministers in the Executive tomorrow, a move that will put pressure on the DUP to revoke their resignations. Mr Trimble has said all along that if this act of decommissioning meets the legislative requirement of arms being "permanently unusable and permanently inaccessible" he would quickly move to restore devolution. And that was what he pledged after meeting Gen de Chastelain last night.
Gen de Chastelain has confirmed that the IRA met that requirement. The probability is that the DUP will follow the three UUP ministers back into government, to join the three SDLP and two Sinn FΘin ministers.
The problem thereafter is how Mr Trimble can get himself re-elected as First Minister, assuming after all his trials and tribulations that he wouldn't prefer to leave that role to the previous acting First Minister Sir Reg Empey.
Mr Trimble has strongly indicated he wants to be back at the helm, and his closest aides have insisted he intends to seek re-election. That could only happen if he could command 30 unionist votes in the Assembly. At the moment he is at least one if not two votes short of that.
Ulster Unionist MLAs Ms Pauline Armitage and Mr Peter Weir have lost the UUP whip. Party sources believe they may be able to persuade Ms Armitage to return to the fold, but they have their doubts about Mr Weir. Self-interest is a wonderful motivator however and if the alternative is elections then Mr Trimble could yet find the necessary number of votes he needs.
Pro-agreement Ulster Unionist sources said last night there would be no unnecessary carping about the IRA statement or the subsequent statement from the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) confirming that the IRA had followed the word with the deed.
Anti-agreement unionists, however, will attempt to seize on the lack of detail about what was decommissioned.
They may have their work cut out because Gen de Chastelain confirmed that the material included "arms, ammunition and explosives".
Should some unionists say this could mean "two guns, two bullets and two rotten sticks of gelignite", it will also be pointed out that the general described the act as "significant" and that he is satisfied it meets the legislative demands under which he works. He has a reputation to maintain after all.
Moreover, Mr Trimble was happy to state last night that the arms disposed of were substantial.
The DUP and other No unionists may also try to exploit the fact that the IICD's mandate runs out in February.
This has raised concerns that some unionists, including some Ulster Unionists, will posit February as another deadline for complete IRA decommissioning. Mr Jeffrey Donaldson, who is in Australia, already has said as much.
Rather oddly, both senior Sinn FΘin and Yes Ulster Unionist sources say February won't prove a problem, again suggesting quite a degree of bilateral sequencing ahead of this IRA move. They appear comfortable with the prospect of the IICD's mandate being extended.
The next phase is to see some payoff for republicanism for its "unprecedented move".
Expect to see diggers and other dismantling equipment beginning work on some of the watchtowers in south Armagh very soon. Details of the demilitarisation plans are expected to be announced today.
Ultimately, the success of yesterday's republican and unionist risk-taking may depend on the general public instructing the politicians to get on with politics and to forget about petty fault-finding over the fine detail of the statements from the IRA and IICD.
It will take time to sink, in but yesterday truly was a momentous day.
There is much to analyse and much yet to happen to anchor the Belfast Agreement safely but it's worth taking time to reflect on the prospect that Northern Ireland could be on the verge of passing from conflict and sterile politics into a truly new dispensation.